Effect of Mn doping on structural and magnetic susceptibility of C-type rare earth nano oxides Er <inf>2-x</inf>Mn <inf>x</inf>O <inf>3</inf>

Abstract

The manganese doped rare earth oxides Er 2-xMn x O 3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.20) were synthesized by a sol-gel process and analyzed by X-ray diffraction using Rietveld refinement methods. A single phase solid solution is formed up to x = 0.15 while for x ≥ 0.2 a manganese oxide phase appears in the diffraction pattern. Preferential cationic distribution between the non-equivalent sites 8b and 24d of space group Ia3̄ is found for all samples but to a different extent. The octahedral volume and average bond length of Er 1O for 8b site decrease while both octahedral volume and bond length of Er 2O for 24d site increase. Magnetization measurements were done in the temperature range 5-300 K. The effective magnetic moment μ eff is found to decrease with composition parameter x, except for sample x = 0.05 where the magnetization is enhanced. The Curie-Weiss paramagnetic temperatures indicate antiferromagnetic interaction. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.